A Page a Day
It's almost time to retire the old wall planner and get a new one for 2006. Yesterday I went past a stall and, amongst the calendars sporting pictures of dogs, cats, horses and ferrets, and fruit and vegetables dressed up to look like dogs, cats, horses and ferrets, I saw a bunch of Page-A-Day boxed calendars. I've never understood their appeal; surely they make organising and recording engagements a little difficult since you get no sense of the big picture of what's going on from week to week? And they're inconvenient to flip through. Furthermore, who needs 365 knitting patterns? Even I can't get through that many projects in a year!
I suppose their attractiveness lies in their novelty—something new every day, be it a Lord of the Rings exclusive movie still, a Dilbert comic, another Sudoku puzzle, a quilting pattern, some sports trivia, or a bit of received wisdom courtesy of Helen Steiner Rice, Stephen Covey, church billboards or even the Bible. Something to admire, something to amuse, something to bemuse, something to entertain or educate before being crumpled up and thrown into recycling oblivion.
Consider the 365 Bible Verses Page-A-Day 2006 Daily Boxed Calendar:
“For thou art my lamp, O Lord: and the Lord will lighten my darkness.” (2 Samuel 22:29) Take comfort and inspiration from the eternal source—the Bible. Every day, 365 Bible Verses features a gem of profound wisdom, cited chapter and verse from the King James version, that is a beacon to those seeking a virtuous life.
From Deuteronomy comes a call for courage, from Proverbs, a celebration of learning and understanding. Ephesians counsels faith, Zechariah urges compassion, and John exalts the peacemakers. Enjoy these timeless words and rock solid values.
Apart from thinking that the compilers have missed the point of Deuteronomy, I wonder whether such a thing expresses proper reverence for the Bible in extracting a bit of it to grace Tuesday 11th July just because it sounds nice and appeals to our craving for spiritual fast food. I wonder whether it misrepresents what the Bible is all about—not upliftment, encouragement, inspiration or feeling better but knowing the one true God.
Would it be possible to make a calendar about, say, the Trinity, where the user is confronted with 365 aspects of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? Would it be possible to make a calendar that helps one to reflect on the impact that knowing the Triune God God has on the Christian? Would it be possible to make a calendar that, instead of presenting something new everyday, reminds us continually of what is old but good?
All this reflection on verses and calendars just makes me want to dive more into the Word of God. For me anyway calendars are more for planning and organising rather than growing and learning, and I know I'll meet my heavenly Father more in Scripture rather than in schedules.